Here are your favorite Google Cardboard apps

Google's Cardboard platform is really taking off this year. Here's some apps you may not have seen.

It feels like new apps are being added to the Play Store every day that support Google Cardboard. Some are simple passive viewers, some are action-packed space shooters, and some are simple educational apps you can share with your kids. There's no shortage of incredible ideas for this platform right now, and that's why we decided to ask you which apps were your current favorites.

It turns out everyone is using VR in a slightly different way, and that's fantastic. Here are some of your favorites that are worth checking out right now.

YouTube (Free) — While it's a little on the barebones side, the Cardboard mode on the YouTube app makes it easy to watch any video through Cardboard. It's a whole lot more enjoyable when you watch videos that were recorded to take advantage of this particular feature, like 360 videos, but it works for anything and works with a simple button tap.

Cmoar Roller Coaster VR ($1.99) — There are plenty of free roller coaster VR apps in the Play Store, but there aren't a whole lot of good roller coaster VR apps in the Play Store. Cmoar has several tracks for you to check out, and each is impressively well assembled. This should absolutely be one of the first things you show someone new to Cardboard.

End Space VR ($1.09) — Tilt your head around to control a space ship in the middle of a massive combat scenario. Fly around to grab power-ups and blow up everything to move on to the next level. Simple, straightforward, and remarkably addictive. Add this to your arsenal if you aren't already playing it.

Sea World VR2 (Free with ads) — Underwater experiences are some of the coolest things you can do with a child in VR, because it creates the illusion that you can reach out and touch a world these kids only see by going to large aquariums and theme parks. Sea World VR2 isn't associated with the park in any way, but it gives you a cool way to share an underwater landscape and its inhabitants.

Google Cardboard Camera (Free) — What better VR experience could there be than one you've created yourself? Google's Cardboard Camera records a massive 360 panorama with audio and then lets you play it back in VR. The end result is an impressive still image that includes the audio from whatever you were doing at the time. It's fun to take, and fun to share, so you should probably give it a shot.

There are hundreds more Cardboard apps out there for you to try, but these are the ones picked by the readers. If you've got a Cardboard app you love, toss it in the comments below!

Reader comments

Here are your favorite Google Cardboard apps

The Sea World app has VERY invasive ads. FYI, some of those ads are not appropriate for a first grade class. I would have rather just paid for it from the Play Store, or had a free 15 minute trial. The app was deleted quickly.

Orbulus is pretty cool. Also Street View is very handy to see everything in 360°

The cinevo app is incredible. The vr games get old fast been wanting to try that boom game though bomberman clone because of Bluetooth controller.

The cinevo app lets you adjust the focus to make the display as clear and crisp as it can be. Then your in a virtual theatre and to the right of you is the remote to load your video file from within the app and to the right is your phone to adjust volume, skip play back, pause and etc all in the app. That's Google cardboards strongest feature. I like YouTube videos in vr but they are really blurry, low res, or take forever to load even on fast WiFi.

1) Litchi. Allows me to fly my drone in true FPV using cardboard. This will never make the top 10 due to its niche, but it is awesome.
2) Cedar Point VR. Ride the roller coaster that opens this year. It is extreme. Make sure you are sitting down.

Just keep in mind that the View-Master doesn't come with head straps. So if, say, like me, you like using a hand-held controller to shoot down enemy ships in End Space VR, you'll have to have one -- or both -- hands on the headset at all times. I understand why they did this -- they don't want kids to be wearing it too long and getting sick. But if you're using it to watch movies, or play games, then it does get annoying to hold the headset up for a long time.

Maria, on the headset you referenced, can you see the sides of the phone? I have genuine cardboard, and also a VR Box, and on the VR Box you always have the distraction of seeing the phone itself. It makes using it much less immersive. On the real cardboard, you cannot see the phone at all and it disappears from the experience.

A lot of that depends on the size of the phone itself -- if you're using a smaller smartphone, such as the iPhone 5S, you're going to see less screen because there's less screen to see. I personally have found the Baofengs to be extremely immersive -- once I load up the application, the edges disappear, and I don't feel as though I'm looking at the world through a tunnel. I really have to peer off to the sides to see the edge.

For me, past a certain point, the FOV stops mattering, especially for casual games. The Baofeng is across that line, as is the Gear VR. And then there's a second line, beyond that, where the HTC Vive is, and the virtual world starts actually looking real.

Oh, a great place to discover new VR apps is WeArVR.com -- there are over 1,000 VR apps on the Google app store, and no really convenient way to search just them directly, and WeArVr comes closest, with rankings and descriptions and recommendation lists.